Accessibility Policy for Customer Services

The Accessible Customer Service Policy (hereinafter referred to as the “Policy”) sets out the accessibility standards that AGA Group Insurance has put in place for the provision of insurance products and financial services to individuals with disabilities ¹.

The Policy is developed in accordance with Ontario Regulation 191/11: Accessibility Standards integrated, in accordance with the  Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. It applies to all employees, agents or contractors who interact with the public or other stakeholders in Ontario on behalf of AGA Group Insurance. 

*In the context of this document, expressions such as “the Company”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to AGA Group Insurance.

Our Commitment to Accessibility

At AGA Group Insurance, our mission is to take care of people differently, without discrimination. With this in mind, we are committed to providing our products and services to the public while preserving the dignity and independence of individuals with disabilities.

Our goal is to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to our products and services, in a setting comparable to that offered to our other customers.

We are committed to aligning our policies, practices and procedures with the following principles:

• We will integrate the way we provide our insurance products and financial services to people with disabilities into our standard processes, except where a temporary or permanent alternative solution is necessary to enable a person with a disability to benefit from a specific product or service.
• The persons with disabilities will have the same opportunity as any other member of the public to access, use and benefit from our products and services.

Our provision of services to persons with disabilities 

Our commitment to serving persons with disabilities is demonstrated through the following actions:

Adaptive communication

We are committed to communicating in a manner that is appropriate for persons with disabilities.

We ensure that staff members and third parties acting on our behalf receive appropriate training on how to interact and communicate with persons with various forms of disabilities.

A personalized telephone service

We are committed to training our staff to communicate effectively with people with disabilities over the phone, using clear language, precise articulation, and an appropriate speaking rate.

In addition, we will offer people with disabilities the opportunity to communicate with us through hearing aids (where available) or by email.

The use of assistive devices

We will allow people with disabilities to use their own assistive devices to access our products and services, unless using these devices would pose a risk to their health, safety, that of the Company, or third parties. In such cases, we will endeavor to find reasonable alternative solutions to enable people with disabilities to benefit from our products and services.

Assistive devices include, but are not limited to, communication, comprehension and mobility devices.

Accessible billing 

We are committed to ensuring that provide invoices that are accessible to all of our customers. Upon request, we will make them available in printed format, in large print or electronically.

We are available to answer our customers' questions about the content of their invoices, whether in person, by telephone or by email.

Access to assistance animals and support persons 

We ensure that people with disabilities can be accompanied by a guide dog or assistance animal on our premises open to the public and third parties, unless prohibited by law.

If an assistance animal is denied access to our premises, premises under the law, we will put in place all reasonable measures to enable the person with a disability to access, use or benefit from our products and services.

No person with a disability who is accompanied by a support person will be prevented from having access to their support person while on our premises.

We may require a person with a disability to be accompanied by a support person on our premises, but only if the presence of the support person is necessary to ensure the health and safety of the person with a disability or the health and safety of other people on our premises.

In appropriate circumstances, we may request that persons with disabilities provide their prior consent to the disclosure of confidential information in the presence of their support person. support.

Temporary Disruption Notices

In the event of a temporary disruption to our facilities or services commonly used by people with disabilities, we will notify the public.

This notice will include specific information about the reason for the disruption, its estimated duration, and a description of any alternative facilities or services available. The notice will be prominently displayed at all public entrances and service counters to our premises, or will be disseminated by other means deemed reasonable in the circumstances.

Trained employees for better accessibility 

We place great importance on accessibility training to ensure that our products and services are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. This training applies to employees, agents and others who come into contact with the public or act on our behalf, as well as those involved in developing our customer service policies, practices and procedures.

We are committed to providing them with training as soon as possible after they are assigned their responsibilities. This training includes:

• Understanding the  Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005  and  Ontario Regulation 429/07: Accessibility Standards for Customer Service.
• Skills to interact effectively with people with disabilities.
• Proficiency in interacting with people with disabilities using devices or assistive devices.
• The proper use of the devices we provide to facilitate accessibility.
• The protocols to follow if a person with a disability experiences difficulty accessing our products or services.

We are committed to keeping this training up to date to effectively meet the evolving needs of our customers with disabilities. Our goal is to create an accessible environment for all of our customers.

Contact Us

Our ultimate goal is to exceed the expectations of our customers with specific accessibility needs. Your feedback on our performance in this regard is greatly appreciated. Please feel free to share your observations with us by contacting Mr. François Ponton, Director of Human Resources, at  francois.ponton@aga.ca

^{1 The Government of Canada defines a disability as “an impairment, including a physical, intellectual, cognitive, mental, sensory, learning or communication disability or functional limitation, whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, whether manifest or not, that in interaction with a barrier hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.” (Government of Canada, 2019)}